The slowing demand may come from weaker property investment and measures to reduce overcapacity.

Trade with China’s three biggest trade partners, the European Union, the US and the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), all dropped around 10 percent, data showed.

Exports and imports by state-owned companies were among those badly hit, diving 15.7 and 25.7 percent year on year respectively, while private firms reported about one percent increase in both exports and imports.

In a brighter note, the leading index for China’s exports stood at 31.7 in January, the first time it increased from the previous month since February 2015, signalling less export pressure in the second quarter of 2016, the GAC said.

In dollar-denominated terms, China’s exports fell by 11.2 percent from one year earlier in January, worsening from December’s 1.4 percent decline. The import decline also widened to 18.8 percent.

As a weak external picture is likely to persist, a package of policy stimulus directed at boosting domestic demand including more aggressive monetary and fiscal easing, will be more effective at stabilising growth and expectations in the coming months, HSBC said.

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